Beginners welding equipment

I've found the Clarke welders that Machine Mart sell to be pretty good. I'd recommend getting a gas (CO2) MIG welder as the gasless ones, although slightly cheaper, aren't as versatile in my opinion. I've got a Clarke welder and it's been great so far. I had a SIP one before that which stood up to years of heavy use and abuse before finally blowing up! SIP welders seem to have more varied opinions on them though.

One thing that's a godsend is an auto-darkening mask. I struggled for years with the crappy hand-held mask you get free with most welders, and having one hand tied up holding the mask just made things so much more difficult.

I've been using the disposable CO2 bottles but been meaning to switch to a big bottle. The disposables are OK but a false economy. They'll be fine if all you do is the odd patch here and there, but if you're embarking on a bigger project the costs can quickly mount up.

Ah, yes. Everything Dean said as well. An auto darkening helmet can cost as little as £30 and is an absolute revelation compared to a handheld thing, and will save your eyes.

I have a BOC contract under their 'Volkszone' deal. I reckon they'd probably still honour it if you call them. Having decent gas bottles makes a huge difference as the flow rate is much more controllable and you won't be worrying about running out every few minutes and spending another £15 on a tiny bottle.

I'll give another vote for Clarke. I bought mine as a stop gap until my insurance paid out after my Cebora got nicked nearly ten years ago. Needless to say, the one supplied by insurance got moved on and I stuck with the Clarke as it's a great little machine. Mine's a 175-TE and it's been dead reliable, welding everything from bodywork to steel plate.

Priciest bit for me is gas. I have an Argon mix bottle on contact which cost about £42 a year to rent plus gas on top. If you do more than the odd days welding here and there then it's worth the cost IMO and for a beginer, I would definately recoment an Argon mix over CO2. Much easier to produce neat welds.

I also concur on the auto darkening mask. But buy a solar one not a battery powered one. They are dead cheap now. My last one was a Speedglass one which was quite pricey. I just replaced it with an SWP one and it's just as good but a fraction of the price.

Also make sure you always have a spare roll of wire and spare welding tips. Nothing more annoying than finding you've run out of something just as you're about to crack on with a days welding, especially at a weekend!

As Mr 69 said, Clarke 151Te is a classic budget welder with a good rep.
I use old leather motorbike gloves, the thinner type.
Mini bottles will drive you mad eventually. Consider a pub bottle, adaptor (approx £28 posted off the bay), and use CO2. Approx £10-15 a refill depending where you can snaffle it.
Argon mix better on thin steel, but CO2 is so cheap.

Ear plugs. Not that I ever actually manage to stick the damned things in, but theoretically they avoid you hearing your own ear sizzle when welding upside down... ;D

don't buy a really powerfull MIG unless you can turn it down low, more powerfull is not always better.

ain't this the truth, I have a SIP Migmate 150T and it doesn't seem to go low enough and forever blowing holes (ok might be my technique, but all the time??) i am seriously considering moving it on to buy something with an adjustable power dial rather than 3 switches!

So my advice is get one with a dial! Oh and the auto darkening mask's are an absolute godsend!

Clarke 90 pro, cost me £100 and with 10 minutes practice I did some MOT passable welds on the 340

Optimusprimer wrote"Most migs that are small and reasonably portable will weld bodywork just fine. A lot of it is down to the wire used. If you're running 1mm wire then you won't be able to drop the power much but 0.6 is no problem."

I 100% agree - I had previously used 0.8mm wire in my Clarke105EN with a CO2 pub bottle and it blew holes no matter what setting in 20g - Dazcapri & robmoore came over on Saturday, we dropped the wire to 0.6mm and it welds 20g beautifully.

George

The only pro welder i know uses an auto mask, in fact he gave me his old one when he bought a newun, he runs his own business building race cars so a lot of his welding gets stress tested when they crash em and its also visible so most customers want it to look pretty as well.